Waking Dreams
by Dark Guinevere
Summary: Did you kill him? she asked, her voice only wavering slightly as she pulled him closer to her. He looked back at her, green eyes impassive, without emotion. 'There was no need to', he responded. 'You...Uchiha had already been taken out'. GaaSaku?
1. Chapter One

Disclaimer; I don't own Naruto

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**Chapter One**

_

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Naruto was in trouble. _

_Having fought off countless waves of Orochimaru's minions for an impressive two hours, he was finally beginning to weaken. Even the vivid red chakra swirling around his exhausted body was growing fainter, and in Sakura's opinion, the snarl on his face was being kept up through sheer effort alone, in a last-ditch attempt to scare off any enemies stupid enough to underestimate the power of the kyuubi container. _

"_Just another five or ten minutes, Naruto-chan" she whispered. She would be able to assist him then. Or perhaps even earlier if…_

_How the hell had this happened? Kakashi sensei and a group of other representatives had gone out to the edge of the woods to meet the ambassadors from Suna and escort them back to Konoha for the annual renewal of the Fire and Sand alliance. She and Naruto had been returning from a quick mission in Grass country, but had paused to investigate a sudden huge amount of chakra usage a few kilometres away. What they found had been…_

"_Dammit" she hissed, her attention returning to the person lying with his head in her lap, the face mask he normally wore discarded to his side. His normally twinkling eyes were shut tightly, and his forehead creased with pain. Hatake Kakashi, her sensei and friend, one of the people Sakura cared for most in the world. His breathing came out in ragged wet gasps, and as she watched, red bubbles frothed between his lips. The lines in his forehead began to relax…_

"_No, Kakashi sensei"! Sakura hissed. Allowing Kakashi to fall unconscious would be fatal. He seemed to hear her though, as the lines returned, and his entire body stiffened, to brace himself for another wave of pain. He'd already held on for a long time, and she'd managed to heal the more serious internal injuries he'd sustained in the fight before she and Naruto had arrived in time to take over. All that remained was to close the external injuries without risk of infection or gangrene. However, they themselves were considerable, and she too was beginning to weaken. Grudgingly, she'd decided to take a small break before continuing on. That itself could have been had negative consequences for her patient, but Tsunade had warned her many times that if a medic was even slightly inaccurate with the healing which could occur with exhaustion and fatigue, she could potentially undo all the hard work that had gone beforehand. There were no shortcuts, and no miracles. However, time was running out. Even Naruto couldn't last forever against the enemies that just kept coming. _

"_Sakura", Kakashi whispered, a pain-filled choke. "Naruto…help…"_

"_Shut up, sensei" she murmured, as physically and mentally, she prepared to send a large wave of chakra into him. _

"_Rasengan"! she heard Naruto yell. A bright flash spread over the clearing, and Sakura took advantage of the temporary lull following it to gather as much healing chakra as she could into her fingertips. Her eyes narrowed with concentration, she placed her hands directly over Kakashi's lungs and sent wave after wave into his body. His breathing immediately eased and normalised. The final vestiges of his major injuries, which included an ugly slash from his collarbone to his sternum, closed with the flesh knitted together; not as firmly as she'd have liked, but at least the unbearable pain from moments before was gone. The major danger to his life was over. _

"_Good girl" Kakashi whispered. "Now go…" his eyes flew open. "SAKURA"! _

_She felt it too. Like ice water, the massive dark chakra, radiating power, washed over her, momentarily freezing all physical and cognitive functioning. It was overwhelming, almost like Naruto's chakra when his Kyuubi power was at its peak. However, rather than fiery and uncontrollable, this chakra was dark and tightly reined in. She knew who it was, even though she still couldn't see him. She felt him, with every fibre of her being. Naruto knew who it was too, as he turned to her, his eyes back to their normal cerulean blue. They were darkened too with fatigue and pain, and some other emotions Sakura couldn't quite fathom._

"_Sakura chan" he said, voice trembling slightly. "Take Kakashi and…"_

"_Run"? A mocking voice interrupted him. Even after three years, the voice was still achingly familiar. "I knew you were an idiot, but never a coward, dobe"._

_

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_

."Coming to…"

"Sakura chan? Sakura my beautiful - "

"For chrissakes Lee stop crowding her! And calm down, will you? Hey forehead-girl, wake the hell up!"

"Ugh"…eyes beginning to open.

"Clear the way"! Tsunade's loud and commanding voice effectively had everyone scrambling backwards, as Sakura's eyes finally opened. Immediately, she retched and would have thrown up all over the hospital bed if Tsunade hadn't already been there with a bucket. She felt like hell.

"Sakura, how are you feeling"? Tsunade asked, tilting up Sakura's face and looking intently into her watering eyes. Behind her, Rock Lee, Yamanaka Ino and Hyuuga Hinata watched with varying degrees of concern and worry on their faces. Sakura stared back at her sensei.

"I'm alright". Her voice came out as a hoarse croak.

_Fire, ice, pain, agony. Exhaustion. Naruto screaming, Sasuke screaming, fingertips outstretched, rage, sorrow, love. Blinding light, a million flying creatures._

"Naruto? Kakashi sensei? Are they alright?" She stopped herself with an effort, and some confusion. Why wouldn't they be alright? Goddamit but her mind was fuzzy…

Tsunade's face was grim. Behind her, Hinata looked away at the mention of Naruto's name.

"Naruto…he's alright". Tsunade said finally. "He's not really…functioning at the moment though".

_Which means he's simply unconscious or worse? _Sakura wondered. She racked her brains, trying to remember what the hell had happened. She remembered Kakashi's head in her lap, and the welling of chakra in her fingers flowing into him. She remembered Naruto turning to her, exhausted but resolute, saying…something. She remembered those cerulean eyes glazing over…

Sakura gasped, as more of her memory returned. An abnormal chakra, a tumult of emotions.

"Naruto – he's alright?" she cried. "He…"

_The red wheels spinning, Naruto screaming._

She slapped a hand over her mouth. Lee was instantly beside her with the bucket.

"Shh Sakura chan, Naruto kun will be ok. Hokage-sama has it well in hand!" he murmured.

Lee looked in the corner and smiled at someone.

"And he was there in the end. He saved your lives. You and Naruto kun both"!

Sakura blinked. _Who was him?_

"Haruno didn't really need saving". A low voice replied.

Lee moved an inch, and to her befuddlement, Sakura found herself looking straight at Gaara of the Desert. Overall, he must have been perfectly visible all along, but she had somehow managed not to notice him. If he noticed her start of surprise however, he didn't indicate it. He simply looked back at her, dark ringed eyes serene and impassive.

_The Kazekage? _She wondered. _What is he doing here? And what was that about…Gaara…his green eyes…_

"Aaagh" she moaned abruptly, the memories finally slamming into place.

_Pain in her body, pain in her mind, her heart, her soul., Naruto screaming, her own voice screaming, and abruptly, a new voice adding to the cacophony of anguished sounds…_

"Sensei"! she cried. Finding herself unable to look away from Gaara, she grabbed Tsunade's arm. Fragments of her memory returned, and she would have leapt out of the bed if she hadn't been so weak. Oh my God. She felt herself beginning to hyperventilate as the images burst through the walls of her temporary amnesia.

"Sakura"! Tsunade said sharply. She cursed inwardly. She had hoped Sakura's mind would remain blank for a while yet, while she recovered. Sakura wasn't physically hurt much, but who knew what her psychological state would be… Damn the kazekage, why had he insisted on remaining in the room? She waved an imperious hand at everyone.

"Everybody…out"!

Hinata scurried out the door immediately, but Lee and Ino rushed to Sakura's side. Gaara too walked (or glided) closer to the girl, his dark lined eyes remaining fixed on hers.

"Keep it together forehead girl", Ino said soothingly, although she was almost bursting with frustration and worry. She had absolutely no idea what had happened out there, but whatever it was had left two of her friends and an elite Konoha ninja incapacitated. She had been on guard duty at the gates of Konoha along with Hinata and Lee, when Gaara had flown in by himself on a whirlwind of sand, so fast that only Lee's incredible reflexes had managed to stop the young kazekage in his tracks, long enough for her to recognize the three still bodies in the sand cocoon he'd been guiding through the air. _What the hell had happened out there?_

Surprisingly, keeping her eyes fixated on Gaara's pale green irises as he neared her appeared to calm Sakura down.

"I'm fine, sensei", she murmured, brushing away Tsunade's restraining hand. Tsunade glowered at Gaara, her concern over her apprentice overriding any sense of decorum or formality she should have exercised in the presence of one equal to her rank.

"Gaa – kazekage sama, I really must insist -"

To her surprise and to Gaara's as well, Sakura reached out and gently pulled at his sleeve, drawing him closer to her. Her own emerald orbs were entirely calm, although there was a sense of urgency and strain in her voice when she spoke.

"Did you kill him? Sas…Sasuke"?

Next to her, Ino blanched and abruptly sat down. Even Lee looked stunned. Gaara's eyes remained locked with Sakura's, impassive and unemotional. Tsunade watched with trepidation, hoping and praying that whatever his answer was wouldn't break her beloved apprentice into pieces. Even though Sakura appeared to have calmed down, she still wasn't' sure how fragile her mental state was. _Sakura, you are so much like me…_

After a long tense silence, he finally responded.

"No". Gaara said. "I didn't need to. You had…Uchiha had already been taken out".

_

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_A/N: Good? Bad? Utter rubbish? This is my first ever story, so any (constructive) criticism would be appreciated. This story may or may not progress to romance, I'm still not 100 sure yet.


	2. Chapter Two

A.N. Thanks so much to my reviewers so far, you've been a real inspiration! For those who've been following this story, you'll notice a major re-edit of Chapter Two. That's because I intended to put this prologue thing _before_ Chapter Three in, but for some odd reason, I didn't :( Anyway I hope it doesn't confuse anyone, and Chapter Three will be here soon!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

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**Chapter Two**

"_Sakura…chan…"_

_That trembling voice, somewhere between a moan of pain and a plea, was too weak, too uncertain, and just too _sad _to belong to Naruto. She turned to peer at him and was surprised to find herself on the ground, hunched over like a child trying to pick a pretty flower without damaging it. She struggled to stand, her knees shaking violently and entire body aching. She kept her eyes trained on Naruto however even though he was behind her, and her neck was at an awkward angle. Only on Naruto. Somehow, she knew that if she looked the other way, she would see - _what? _There was blood everywhere; splashed obscenely on the ground, and to her surprise, even her feet. How had it got there?_

_It didn't matter. Naruto was all she was concerned about at the moment, the teammate who'd supported and encouraged her, the best friend who had been with her through the best and the worst times. The strongest and most compassionate person she'd ever known; the bright noisy presence in her life like a ray of sunshine, whose entire body right now was tensed in pain, and who was helpless to do anything but watch her struggling to go to him, to give him _something _back. But of course. That was what she had trained for all these years right? To be able to _help_ in times like this, to have the power to prevent those important things she trusted and valued from leaving her in this life, alone again. And maybe, just maybe, they would at least see it as her way of thanking them, of showing her appreciation for their contribution to her heart and soul. _

_Her eyes landed on another figure lying on his back behind Naruto; unconscious, but with his chest rising and falling steadily. _"I helped him" _she thought. Just like that, she felt strength flowing through her legs, and she half flew half stumbled to where her other teammate was lying, and fell to her knees. _

"_Naruto chan", she whispered. "You need medical attention". He was almost completely out of chakra, she realized. And not just his normal chakra either, from the way his physical wounds weren't automatically healing over. That was unusual, she thought. It was also very bad, as she could feel that her own chakra levels were just about running on empty, so she couldn't transfer any of hers to him as extra fuel. On further examination, she was relieved to observe that the copious amounts of blood spattered around the place didn't seem to come from him, nor did he didn't appear to have sustained any internal or mental injuries, aside from being extremely dazed. _

"_It's ok, Naruto chan", she whispered, running a finger along a dirty cheek. "We'll get you healed up in no time eh"? She gave him her biggest smile, and saw him struggling to reciprocate, which to her concern, she realized was an effort. And the smile that came out was – tentative. Which was stranger still; injured or no, Naruto didn't give tentative smiles. It was the type of wistful expression terminally ill patients gave when she told them they'd be fine. Which was ridiculous, because Naruto of all people was NOT terminally ill, and certainly not about to die. _

"_I need my medical bag", she murmured. If Naruto's physical wounds weren't going to heal until his Kyuubi chakra recovered itself, then they would become a main concern. Where was her bag?_

_At that moment, her senses began to spin, the way they did during a mission where an insightful enemy had decided to sneak up on and take out the team medic before or during a more direct attack. It was a move every medic nin had been warned about and had been trained specially to deal with. In many missions, her taking out such an enemy quickly and silently had even served as a turning point for her team, with the attacking ninjas unaware that their assassin teammate had failed. As a result, she was, and should have remained prepared. However, this attack from behind her was…different, somehow. No danger. Not violence, no intent to kill. In fact, she felt somewhat drowsy, dreamy. It was… irresistible. _

"Wrong wrong wrong"! _a small voice in her mind was screaming, her trained subconscious aware that the mental processes occurring in her brain was anything but ordinary. However she was smiling slightly when the world around her collapsed into a dazzling light, and a million flying creatures with glowing tails materialized and began to circle. She had only one word for them. _Pretty.

_Beside her, Naruto's eyes widened. "Sakura chan! NO"! _

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**Chapter Two**

Sakura was seething as she walked or rather, stomped through Konoha's tree lined streets.

_Of all the bloody stupid things_..._of all the bloody stupid people!_ She stopped in her tracks abruptly and whirled around so fast soil flew up around her feet in a small brown shower. The object of her current frustration, who had been following her meekly from the village hospital, immediately cringed.

Sakura took a deep breath. _Calm down, there was no damage done_. _No _permanent_ damage anyway_…

"What the HELL were you thinking"? she yelled.

Konoha's beautiful green beast Rock Lee's dark eyes looked pleadingly into her blazing green eyes. "Sakura chan" –

"I mean", Sakura hissed through gritted teeth, "he only woke up from a _coma _around two days ago, and you thought TRAINING at THIS time would be a good idea? He _only_ has two broken ribs, two broken _arms_, a sprained wrist, _chakra_ burn, concussion, heaven only knows _what _state his cognitive mental functioning was in, and…"

"B - But Sakura chan"! Lee cried. His own eyes began to blaze with excited energy, as his arms waved excitedly in the air, "That's exactly why! He was unable to use most of his upper body and his arms; therefore there IS no better time to concentrate on the balance and strengthening of the toe muscles! Every aspect of the leg muscles are a vital part of a shinobi's body, down to the very tip of the feet; look at what your own beautiful" - _Eeek_

Lee promptly put his own developed leg muscles to work to maintain his balance, as Sakura showed him exactly what she could do with her toe when it tapped the ground once (though admittedly, with barely any muscle exertion). When Lee was ankle deep in rubble to her satisfaction, she then proceeded to stalk off down the road, her clenched fist informing a contrite Lee that he'd likely meet with a head-on collusion with a solid surface if he went after her, as opposed to weaving around with a foot stuck in the street like an idiot.

_Ah well my beautiful Sakura chan_, he thought as he watched her receding back and freed himself easily from what remained of that bit of road. _At least you're beginning to display some emotions again now that Naruto kun has woken up_…

Lee sighed, and wondered if he should head back to the hospital to suggest that Naruto take it easy for a while, train by himself, or find Neji and challenge him to a fight (no byakugan allowed; Neji _was_ trying to improve his taijutsu skills without use of his eyes after all). He settled on Neji, as he guessed Naruto already knew not to move again from his hospital bed (judging from his extremely guilty expression when Sakura had caught him trying to balance on all of one big toe with the basket of fruit she'd brought him earlier perched on his bandaged head for balance). Anyway, he thought happily, Neji needed the practice. Konoha had only ever had two genius doujustu-users to their credit, and they were definitely not going to see one of them again.

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Sakura was still seething as she continued stomping through the path that led a little ways into the Konoha forest. For some reason, the exercise, which would normally have cleared her head and emotions a little was only intensifying her ire. The forest was cool and shady, but _noisy_; she realized. Stupid birds were chirping their stupid feathered heads off in the stupid trees, insects were hissing around her in the heat, and she could hear faint yells and calls of encouragement coming from a team that was obviously training nearby in hearing vicinity. _I wanted QUIET, goddammit_, inner Sakura shrieked as her knuckles cracked. 

Overall, she wasn't sure why she was reacting so violently to everything. Despite her temper, she _knew _it was uncharacteristic of her to act like a spoilt brat, or to go through the uncontrolled outpouring of emotion she seemed to be suffering from lately. But she couldn't seem to help herself – she had been like this for the last two days, ever since Naruto had woken up calling for ramen much earlier than anticipated, to everyone's delight (and more than one medic's curiosity), and to her own sheer, utterly incomparable joy and relief.

_That must be it_, she realized, beginning to feel slightly guilty. _I was so proud of myself too, managing to remain stoic and unemotional for the last week since we came back from – there. I was just so damned relieved when Naruto finally woke up, and the first thing he asked about was Kakashi and me, then ramen…_

Naruto had wanted badly to ask about something, or some_one_ else too, she knew. But he hadn't. Not when she was in the room with him at least. And then she'd realized she was also so damned _angry_ with him for getting himself hurt too, as if it were entirely his fault they'd been out on that mission at that time and place. Not that he or anyone else knew, given that she refused to leave his side for another eight hours since he woke, and insisted on doing everything for him (including to his delight, feeding him). She hadn't been able to stop looking, to stop touching, stop _making sure_ that he was really truly alive and well.

Naruto, being Naruto had put up with it all patiently of course (and probably enjoyed it too), continuously taking her hand and stroking it, asking her in detail about Kakashi's condition, the state of the new apartment she'd rented a few weeks ago, the latest jutsu Tsunade had taught her. Anything but their latest mission. Then there was the training 'exercise' with Lee…if anything, that proved that Naruto was definitely ok, both bodily and at the very least, not as psychologically scarred as everyone, even Tsunade, had feared. If he was, at least he wasn't showing it. Hiding his true feelings was hardly a rare occurrence, but Sakura _had_ seen Naruto genuinely depressed before, and had learned by now that Naruto only let people see his sadness or worry (and by extension, his real intelligence and seriousness) when he was suffering from overwhelming stress or grief. The fact that he' been stupid enough and actually _enthusiastic_ about developing his toe muscles said a lot about his psychological condition.

Still, she wanted badly to smash her fist into a tree and reduce it to sawdust. Or perhaps stomp the ground a little harder than she had back then, and collapse a few stationary objects (like the trees). However, her sensei's stern warning that she should _not_ be taking her frustration and anger out on the landscape around her just because she now _could_ resonated in her memory. But at least it would stop the clamor the stupid birds were creating and she would be able to hear herself think.

"Shut up"! she roared suddenly in a very mature display of temper, and felt a vicious jolt of satisfaction when avian creatures flapped away in a rush of wings and the noise abruptly ceased.

"I beg your pardon"?

She recognized the mild, slightly gravel voice instantly.

_Oh no..._


	3. Chapter Three

A.N. Just edited a few bits that were inconsistent with Chaps 1 or 2, though no one's picked it up yet! I need to improve my proofreading skills, as well as my memory :(

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**Chapter 3 **

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Personal humiliation wasn't something Sakura was great at dealing with. When that humiliation came about by her own lack of awareness of her surroundings or unguarded moments of carelessness, it mentally transported her back to a time when she was looked down upon by everyone she considered important. Admittedly though, 'everyone' at that stage consisted of one person in particular. Given that her current source of embarrassment was vividly recreating those feelings of inadequacy, not to mention sudden memories she'd rather not face of that particular person, it was no wonder that Sakura felt right then like hitting the ground hard enough to create a ravine, and collapsing it in on herself, never to face daylight again.

Unfortunately, she was the personal apprentice of Konoha's Hokage. And the personal apprentice of the Hokage was in herself a representative of Konoha. The very least she could do for the shishou who's spent so much time and effort on her was to _not_ embarrass herself and by extension, her Hokage and Konoha in front of important political figures from another village. Figures like the Kazekage of the Sand Village for example, who was currently reclining lazily on the branch of a tree, and observing her with something very close to amusement in his black- ringed eyes.

_That's right, I've already embarrassed myself_, Sakura thought wryly. Well in that case…she took a deep breath. "Kaze -"

"Haruno" he said smoothly, effectively cutting her short before she could start. "The Hokage wishes you to attend her at Konoha Hospital".

Thankfully, there was no amusement or mockery in his voice. In fact, for all the expression in his tone, he could have been addressing a tree. However, Sakura felt slightly indignant; she had _clearly_ been trying to apologize, and now that she'd made the mental effort to put aside her pride and to represent Konoha in both courtesy and humility, she was damn well going to finish it.

Clasping her hands together, she bowed formally to the recalcitrant figure in the trees. "I apologize for my conduct, Gaa – I mean _Kazekage_ – sama", she murmured, keeping her eyes downcast. "I was distracted…"

When he didn't reply, she took a quick peek at his face. He was watching her, and the way his green eyes were narrowed ever so slightly reminded put her in mind of a feral cat; intense, alert, and ever so slightly curious.

_Is he going to reproach me?_ She wondered. _Did I not show enough sincerity in my apology? _

They were at a rather peculiar impasse now. Gaara didn't appear inclined to move, which placed her in the awkward position of deciding whether to take the initiative and start heading back towards the village, which might be interpreted as rude and lacking respect, or to continue standing there while he kept his black-ringed eyes trained on hers like they were now, unmoving and piercing. Was she supposed to do something else, such as get on her knees and abase herself? There was no chance she'd ever do THAT; she was a jounin and the personal apprentice of the Hokage after all.

_And not if I want to keep the vestiges of my pride, _she thought, rather guiltily. Maybe she wasn't as selfless and concerned about representing her Hokage after all. But in all honesty, displaying such formality to someone barely older than herself was – peculiar.

_Who would have thought it?_ She wondered. _Gaara, already Kazekage. The idea would have been preposterous just a few years ago – back when he – _she shuddered at that train of thought.

But still, aside from Kazekage, he was a friend and brother figure to one of the people she loved most in the whole world, one Uzumaki Naruto. That alone was enough to cause her to make a special effort to treat him carefully, despite the fact that she'd never really gotten to know him well during the years he'd spent in Konoha thanks to her training and studies with Tsunade. And if there were still nights when she woke up sweating and hyperventilating, throwing off all her bed coverings to fight off the feeling of being suffocated and buried alive, she would continue to spend the day smiling and relaxed, as if she'd had a perfect night's sleep, so vital for a medical ninja.

And he was still staring. Getting just a little annoyed now, Sakura sternly ordered herself _not_ to quail or lower her eyes, or to demonstrate that she was in any way intimidated by his behaviour. Not that he seemed to be aiming at intimidation either; she'd seen him manage _that_ with barely more than his general presence at a particular place.

"You've become strong". He said suddenly and matter of factly, as if he'd just noted that the sun was shining. She blinked at him. To her mental satisfaction, Gaara appeared almost as surprised at himself for having spoken. When he said nothing else however, she decided to take advantage of their mutual uncomfortableness to take the lead.

"Thank you, Gaara-sama", she replied. She kept her voice low and demure, but was strangely pleased by his comment. From what she'd gleaned from Naruto and the few opportunities she'd had to study him herself, she knew it was rare of him to say _anything_ voluntarily, let alone a compliment. She was about to make some other polite remark and suggest heading to the village, but it appeared that he wasn't finished yet.

"Out there…you weren't afraid. You wanted to kill him". She felt a chill run through her body, and her eyes dropped from his. She should have realized. He really was going to mention _that_.

However, on sensing the shift of her mood, Gaara suddenly seemed to change his mind about speaking, and he vanished from the branch to reappear at the base of the tree in a swirl of sand. Before Sakura could wonder what that was all about, he began to walk, without a further glance backwards. She assumed she was to walk with him.

_No getting out of this one_, she thought as she quickened her pace, though making sure she didn't completely catch up to Gaara. It wasn't so much that she was afraid of him like she used to be, simply that she didn't have a clue on how to talk or communicate with him that wasn't going to prove awkward, especially if he took it into his head to continue _that_ topic. To her dismay however, he slowed his pace slightly to allow her to draw level with him, and they continued walking, eyes trained ahead, and silent.

After around five minutes, Sakura decided she really couldn't bear the silence any longer. Gaara was an imposing figure to walk besides, and she had the strange feeling that he was still watching her as they strolled out of the forest and onto the path leading to the main village. Which made her wonder – why had he chosen to personally deliver a message to her from Tsunade? Surely there were couriers for this kind of thing?

"Do you know what the Hokage wants me for, Kazekage sama"? she asked. "Is it an emergency"?

His eyes slanted only slightly sideways. "No".

_Does that mean he knows what it is and won't tell me, or that he doesn't know, but can't be bothered actually saying so?_ Inner Sakura grumbled. She looked up at him, in the hope that he would expand on the topic. Despite her discernible head movement, he continued to look straight ahead without saying a word. Sakura gave up, and they were quiet for the remainder of the trip until she stood in front of the hospital. An orderly quickly opened the door for them, bowing deeply to her, even more deeply for Gaara.

"Hokage sama is in the hospital library, Sakura – sama", he said respectfully.

"Thank you, Naoko", she replied. She was feeling slightly apprehensive now; she'd assumed that she _had_ been summoned to assist with an emergency operation or something of that nature. Meanwhile, Gaara made no indication of leaving, not that he bothered to inform her about why he was still around either. Therefore, it was her turn to lead him, with the orderly scuttling along behind them. Down the familiar wide corridors of the white-silver walls of the institution which, for the last three years of her life, had felt like a second home. A place where she'd finally had a chance to regain her confidence and self-esteem, to actually _do_ something worthy, and where she had a shishou who was harshly critical, but also acknowledged and valued her abilities.

"Would – would you like a drink, Kazekage sama"? the orderly stuttered, and Sakura was abruptly pulled forcibly from her reflections. _What the hell!?_ She thought indignantly. Although Gaara had shaken his head, she shot the orderly a reproving glare. He shrank back.

"I apologize again, Kazekage sama", she said, pleased with how clearly and steadily her voice rang out. There was no doubt about it; she definitely felt more confident and in control in what she saw as her own domain. "We normally don't allow eating or drinking in within the hospitals; for health and contamination reasons, you understand". She directed the last at the guilty orderly. "But if you prefer - ". she indicated to some of the smaller rooms set in the walls, "we have consulting and detaining rooms where refreshments may be brought".

A nod and a slant of his eyes towards her indicated Gaara's understanding, and when he didn't slow his pace, Sakura took it as a "no". He was really beginning to get to her however.

_How has he managed as Kazekage?_ She wondered as they neared their destination. _Surely you need to be able to at least TALK to be such an important political figure_? And on that note, _how did he ever manage to get along with I-can't-shut-up-for-a-minute Naruto?_ She was really going to have to watch them when they were together next.

"Here we are, Sakura-san, Kazekage sama", the orderly announced brightly as they approached the red doors of the library. Beside her however, Gaara abruptly stopped, his dark eyes narrowed to slits and his posture suddenly stiff with tension like a cat with its hackles raised. Before she could ask him what was wrong, a short but agonized howl that sent chills rushing down Sakura's spine echoed down the corridor, followed by the sound of smashing glass, exploding instruments and yells of alarm. The library doors abruptly slammed open so hard they reverberated against the walls, and Tsunade rushed out.

"Sakura"! Tsunade snapped when she spied her apprentice, who had already spun around to sprint down the corridor. "Ward six _now _- it's Naruto – he's relapsing".

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A.N. Thanks to all my reviewers! You've been a great motivation so far :) 


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